


Starlight Ablaze

by MF217



Series: Citadel of the Heart [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Other, Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-05-10 03:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14729225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MF217/pseuds/MF217
Summary: AU. Red, Blue, and Green find themselves at the start of their journeys, but also at the start of something much more brewing on around Kanto; at first one suspects the local Team Rocket as to why things are troubled, but Red and co. are quick to realize Team Rocket isn't the only team lurking in Kanto at this time, and now it's up to them to find out what is going on and stop it!





	1. Prologue: Fire

**Author's Note:**

> (Disclaimer: This work is a non-profit fan fiction for Pokémon. I do not own Pokémon nor do I own any of the characters aside from the occasional original character that may or may not appear in this story. The property of Pokémon belongs to Game Freak, which in turn belongs to Nintendo. Please support the official works.)

The year is 299X; the world is perhaps not the same one you've known about in its future, or even in its past as you'll see here. Perhaps you think you know the outcome of this story before it even begins; the story does not have any true outcome, however, until the beginning before the beginning is told. This tale will be told truthfully, for it is the ideals of those interested in knowing the bigger picture.

The story begins in a place of a simple name, of a rather rural, homely origin; a place towards the western central part of a region called Kanto, within a small district known as Palette Town. Today begins with a bright, sunny morning, as a young man exits his house, dressed in a long sleeve, blue shirt, as he rushes down the road towards an uphill path that leads to a much larger building.

"Better not be late for gramps!" He says to himself as he pants from his nonstop running, as he quickly runs past a house at the bottom of the hill, just before the steep climb up towards the bigger building at the peak of the town's elevation. Outside of the house is a young woman around the same age as the impatient young man in a hurry; very patiently, the woman carries a pail of dirt towards a different spot in the yard of her front yard.

"Now then, the Gracidea flowers go over here…" The woman mumbles to herself, as she slowly walks to place the bucket she's carrying down, and then overtop of a layer of protective sheets, begins laying out the dirt onto it gently and with delicate care as she quietly pats it down into place.

At that moment, a sharp, distinct breeze hits the air as the woman shudders in the cold she feels, before moving to stand and having a look around, in which she sees a young man of her own age walking out of what is presumably his own house further across the street from her house, as she gazes at the man in questioning awe as she places seeds for some kind of flower in her garden.

' _Why is he finally leaving that house of his for once?'_  The woman thinks to herself about the man, dressed in a red jacket with a black undershirt, as well as wearing a hat with an emblem on the front of it. The man seems to be taking his time in movement; not uttering a sound as he walks towards the north of the town; the woman doesn't notice someone approaching her at this time as she gazes at the man heading north from here.

"Good morning, Green. How are you on this fine day?" An old, jolly voice of a significantly older man speaks to the woman, named Green, as Green looks over her shoulder as she looks at the man with a smile.

"Professor Oak, correct?" Green asks, as she moves to stand, as she finishes with "I don't think we've formally met before; my name is Green." Green introduces herself to the man, named Professor Oak.

"I see; I'm not exactly sure why I half expected you to say your name is Blue for a moment there, but because of that I just recalled how my grandson is going to be visiting me soon for him to get his first Pokémon. Would you care to join in and observe?" Professor Oak offers, as Green lightly chuckles a bit.

"Oh, I'll be fine; I'm more content picking my first Pokémon last, anyways; any chance the guy across the street from here could use a Pokémon for himself as well?" Green asks, to which Oak looks at her with a confused glance.

"What do you mean? You mean Red, yes?" Oak asks, to which Green nods.

"Yes, he just headed north a moment ago. I'm not sure where he thinks he's going at an hour like this. I'm kind of surprised he's even outside at all; normally he shuts himself indoors with his Nintendo Switch all day long and-"

"Is he trying to head into Route 1 up ahead without a Pokémon at all?" Professor Oak asks as he looks down the street towards the north; looking precisely as to where the man, named Red, is heading towards, as a large abundance of tall grass can be seen much further ahead as Oak gasps.

"Green, could you do me a favor and meet Blue at my laboratory? I need to stop Red before it's too late!" Oak says as he quickly rushes in a sprint to catch up with Red, before even giving Green a chance to properly answer, as Green lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine; let me just grab my black dress, choker and all."

Green could wish she was joking with that remark; she knew what Blue or even possibly Red would say about her appearance otherwise.

* * *

Now, though, Oak is too busy running towards Red as he watches as Red is about to step foot into the tall grass; a blur appears in Oak's vision, as he begins to feel the strain of his age as he tries to catch up to Red still.

"Red, wait!" Oak yells ahead as Red turns around to notice him after having walked into the tall grass for several steps.

"…?" Red doesn't understand why Oak is so concerned, or why Oak had bothered to run for so long to the point of exhaustion; watching as Oak catches his breath with heavy panting, Red hears something let out a low, nasally hiss towards him from somewhere.

"Red! Don't you understand it's dangerous to go into the tall grass without a Pokémon of your own? What if you got hurt?!" Oak asks Red, as Red simply shifts his gaze towards Oak; his expression not indicative of any kind of emotion other than a dull sense of indifference right now. Oak, looking at Red more carefully after catching his breath, is quick to notice a shine in the grass as something's eyes pierce through out into the open.

"Red! Look out!" Oak tells him as he reaches for something in his pocket, all the while Red, rather casually and bluntly, sidesteps to the right as something lunges out of the grass with a fiery smoke coming from its trail behind it; its tail covered in a red flame, covered in orange skin with a yellowish underbelly, having bluish eyes and an off, asymmetrical marking on its left arm of a dirt red color, the creature moves to swipe at Oak with razor sharp claws that slice through his lab coat like sharp, metallic blades cutting through fabric.

"Raaah!" The small, but feisty and powerful for its size creature calls out towards Oak as Red observes; Oak falls backward, landing on his rear, as the creature's eyes are in the form of feral slits right now as its breathing is heavy albeit quiet. From behind it, however, Red can be heard shuffling through his pockets as the small reptile looks over towards him; its gaze calming at the sight of a small, delicately wrapped candy made of honey and nuts is in Red's hand, as he offers it to the small reptilian.

"Rah?" The creature questions, as Oak takes the chance to grab a small, red and white colored sphere from his pocket to his hand and throw it at the creature in question; the sphere opens up in half, as it sucks in the fiery reptile as a bright light into it, and then closes around it to encase it inside.

_One shake, two shakes, three shakes… *click*_

Oak quietly catches his breath after an intense confrontation; his clothing torn to shred in places, as Red puts the treat away in his pocket as he looks at Oak.

"Let me guess; this is the part where you take me to your lab and give me a Pokémon, correct?" Red asks incredibly bluntly in terms of wording and overall, deadpan tone, as Oak looks at him in surprise.

"I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you; I already have my grandson for that, but do you not realize how much you could have harmed yourself by going out there without any Pokémon?" Oak says to Red as he stands up to try and scold him for his recklessness; Red simply shrugs it off as his deadpan expression remains intact.

"I heard from my mom of a Charmander stealing from the neighbor's crops in search of food, particularly stealing from Daisy's honey trees in search of either honey or nuts." Red explains to Oak, as Red pulls the treat back from out of his pocket.

"I intended to lure the Charmander over to you in hopes you could deduce if anything is wrong with it or not, or even why a Charmander is found so far away from Mt. Silver." Red tells Oak further about his original plan, before putting the treat away again and looking at the Poké Ball with Charmander in it in Oak's hand. "Besides; I was honestly hoping to take Charmander for myself so long as it didn't already belong to anyone, but it appears that won't be the case." Red says to Oak, as he moves to walk back south towards his house, as Oak simply stares at him in a questioning, somewhat impressed gaze, before Oak moves to place a hand on Red's shoulder.

"Hold on." Oak interrupts Red's train of thought, "Perhaps you're more than worthy of this Charmander than you let yourself on to believe, though I want an honest answer from you, if you'll be so polite to answer an old fool like me." Oak asks of Red, as Red looks over his shoulder and looks at Oak with a questioning gaze.

"What did you plan on doing with Charmander if you were to have caught it yourself as planned?" Oak asks Red, as Red simply stares at Oak with silence; so many possibilities of what he could say to Oak in regards to possible plans, since owning Charmander would officially make him a Pokémon Trainer in some aspect no matter what he did with it. He could very easily just stay home with Charmander and raise it as a pet, and nothing more; the fierce battle instinct displayed by Charmander earlier, though, pretty much made that idea out of the question.

"I would've originally raised it as a pet, at least until I could figure out what I honestly want to do with myself in the future; seeing Charmander's battle instinct, however, I can tell that perhaps I would've became a Pokémon Trainer, if merely to sate Charmander's physical health needs and to make sure it gets the best care possible for an energetic Pokémon such as it." Red tells Oak, as Oak closes his eyes as he takes the time to think about Red's answer.

' _Hmmm… I know how a colleague of mine would respond to this; he would say something along the lines of how Red could change the world with the idea of becoming a trainer, and yet, here I am wondering if-'_

A loud, ringing sound coming from Oak's side catches him off guard; moving to grab it, revealing a device called a Pokégear, Oak opens it up to answer it, unprepared for what happens next.

"YO GRAMPS!" Blue's shouting can be heard over the Pokégear's transmission, as Oak simply sighs with an exasperated tone.

"Oh for the love of- Yes, Blue?" Oak asks, as Blue simply growls from his end of the call.

"Don't sass me, gramps! I've been waiting almost 10 minutes for you to get back here so I could finally get my first Pokémon!" Blue yells at the top of his lungs, before being interrupted by feminine coughing beside him, as Green clears her throat as Blue looks over his shoulder at her.

"Oh, and also; why is Green here and dressed as if looking for a prom date? Doesn't she know I don't have the time for her unless she gets a Pokémon for herself?!" Blue asks Oak, as Green simply growls in response to Blue's question.

"Well for one, you load of Tauros sh- Never mind; look, just wait patiently for Oak to get back to the lab, and maybe, just maybe, he'll be kind enough to give you your Pokémon to reward your continued patience, and just maybe I'll even let you take me out on a date if you can beat me in my first battle as well!" Green yells at Blue over the call, as Red looks at Oak all startled, as Oak looks back at him with a nod.

"Relax! Both of you! I'm coming on over right now!" Oak says as he hurriedly hangs up, before looking at Red as he gestures for him to follow, as Red acknowledges the gesture and follows Oak back towards his lab.

* * *

By the time Oak and Red arrived at the lab, Blue is busy shooting daggers through his eyes over towards an equally grumpy Green; Red simply looks incredibly bored in his expression as he stands perfectly still between the two to keep them apart, as Oak looks at the three with concern, as he lets out a sigh as before him, three spheres much like the ones he had caught Charmander in are present on a table before them.

'I just hope these three won't be the death of me…' Oak thinks to himself, as he looks at three in question. "Now then, you three all know why you're here with these Poké Balls presented to you, correct?" Oak asks, as Red, Blue, and Green focus their attention on Oak as they simultaneously nod.

"Good; then you know what awaits you next. Normally, had this been any other day, I would've allowed you to freely choose your Pokémon, but considering the incident with Red before I had gotten back, I'm allowing him the first choice. Red, you still desire that Charmander from earlier, correct?" Oak asks, as Red nods silently, as Red moves to grab the Poké Ball on the table containing it, and opening it up to reveal the Charmander from minutes ago.

Charmander sniffs the air feistily, as it looks over at Red as Red hands it the honey and seed crafted treat from earlier, as Charmander sniffs his hand before quickly moving to grab the treat in its mouth and begin munching away at it as it lets out a soothed, more cheerful hiss. Oak, as well as the curious Blue and Green, now take the chance to have a look at Charmander's oddly marked left arm.

"Hmm… What do you suppose that could be there?" Blue asks, legitimately interested in knowing, as Green nods.

"It appears to be some kind of birthmark, I'd say." Green suggests, as Oak shrugs.

"For as much as I am a Pokémon Professor, I'm afraid even I'm confused as to what this marking could be; it appears too big to be a simple birthmark, and quite frankly I don't even know why a Charmander would live so far away from Mt. Silver in the first place anyways." Oak tells the two, as Red simply nods.

"Like I said; it was trying to steal from crops and gardens prior to today, so if I were to guess, it's probably incredibly lost." Red says to Oak, as Oak sighs as he nods in confirmation.

"Honestly, that appears to be the only conclusion I can come to with this particular Charmander over any other I've seen." Oak says, as he snaps his fingers as he looks at Blue and Green to get their attention.

"Now then; I'm not going to tell you which of the remaining two is in which Poké Ball; I'm just going to have you surprise each other by whomever picks one first claiming that Poké Ball first, and no chance being given to get a different one." Oak tells the two, as Blue shoots him a glare.

"Gramps, how could you say that? I wanted to have the first choice today! You even told me I would!" Blue says to Oak, as Oak gives him a stern look, causing Blue to back down.

"Blue Oak; I did not promise that you would have the honor of the first choice, nor did you hurrying here before anyone else nor starting an argument with Green give you any such right at the moment either. Consider this a warning for the future; do not start an argument like that around me again, alright?" Oak scolds Blue, as he looks as Blue sighs and closes his eyes briefly.

"Sorry, gramps." Blue says, as he opens his eyes and grabs for the first Poké Ball he could reach the closest, and opens it to reveal a blue colored Pokémon with a brown shell and a puffed up tail, small claws on its toes and hands, and a sharp, beak-like mouth and brown eyes.

"Alright then, Squirtle, looks like you're mine." Blue says to his newly acquired Squirtle, as Green sighs as she grabs the remaining Poké Ball, opening it up and revealing a small, green colored quadruped with a massive plant bud on its backside and having red eyes and small ears.

"Alright; I'm satisfied with Bulbasaur here." Green says as she smiles brightly, as Bulbasaur jumps up and down cheerfully in response, as Oak clears his throat to catch everyone's attention.

"Now then, with that all settled, is there anything else I can help you three with? If not, I recommend taking your Pokémon through Route 1 up north to Viridian City; the exercise could do all three of you and your new Pokémon a good treatment." Oak asks before offering the suggestion, as Red, Blue, and Green look at each other and all three nod.

"Viridian City it is!" Blue says.

"I could definitely stock up on some supplies for my garden there, I guess." Green says.

"Very well, as for you, Red?" Oak says as he looks at Red, as Red very lightly gives a smile towards him before looking down at Charmander, as Charmander finishes the treat after spending a few minutes munching on it.

"I'm going to get to know you more as we head there, Charmander."

_**To Be Continued.** _


	2. Chapter 1: White

"So now that we officially have Pokémon, what do we do next?" Green asks Blue, as Blue looks at her and shrugs.

"I guess go off to Route 1 and train, isn't that right, Red?" Blue asks, only to find Red's presence in Oak's lab to be effectively nonexistent. "… Red?" Blue asks out in a tone trying to hide his concern.

Red and his Charmander are nowhere to be seen in the lab; Oak looks around in confusion, only just now noticing Red is gone from the room. Green looks over at Blue, concern filling her gaze, as Blue moves to grab his Poké Ball for Squirtle from his side and return Squirtle into it.

Unfortunately, Squirtle seems to disagree, as it jumps out of the way of the Poké Ball's return laser it emits from the center of it. Green looks at Squirtle, and then over at Bulbasaur and notices something.

"Blue, I think it would be wise if we allow the new Pokémon some air before we begin adventuring, okay?" Green says, as Blue looks over towards Green and sighs.

"Not the first option I had in mind, but alright." Blue says, as he looks down towards Squirtle; watching as the Tiny Turtle Pokémon gives him a bit of a scowl in response to the attempts to be returned to its Poké Ball. Blue, about to speak up, looks over at Green from the corner of his eyes.

"Uh… Is Squirtle a boy or a girl?" Blue whispers to Green, as Green raises an eye.

"Runs in the family, doesn't it?" Green remarks, as she promptly gets a scowl from Blue in direct response. "I'm just kidding, alright?" Green says as she holds her hands up to gesture him to calm down, lightly chuckling as she watches Blue calm down a tiny bit.

"She's a girl, Blue!" Green says as she quietly stops chuckling, all the while she and Bulbasaur begin to walk out of the laboratory; Blue is left behind to be utterly bewildered by Green's simplistic answer to his question, and yet even Blue couldn't even believe it himself.

_((So are you just going to stand there and wait while everyone else gets another step ahead?))_

Blue snaps himself out of his train of thought, quickly bolting out of the door while only hastily managing to wave his grandfather goodbye at the last possible second. Oak didn't seem too fazed, before hearing his PC begin ringing as to indicate someone calling him. Heading over to answer it, Oak is surprised to be greeted with an email.

"Professor Oak, my old friend. I do believe I'd like your presence for the Pokémon League by autumn's eve. The Elite Four say it's serious this time."

* * *

Red is walking back up north, towards Route 1, almost in a way in which he more or less disregarded the entire encounter with Oak, Blue, and Green; Charmander walking by his side is the only visible difference from how he had previously tried to leave Palette Town, versus how he's currently making the attempt once again.

Green is quick to see his in Red's path towards Route 1; her expression visibly scrunches when she realizes Red's distance from town indicates he went straight to the northern exit directly from Oak's lab, rather than make any plans to stop and inform anyone he'll be leaving. As Blue catches up with Green, he catches his breath as he sees Red on the move.

"So what makes him so special? He's just in a hurry like everyone else!" Blue says to Green, only for Green to stop him at that as she places a hand on Blue's shoulder, and giving him a stern look; a serious gaze fills her eyes, one of frustration, true, but especially of concern.

Only Blue would be able to recognize the signals that Green is giving him right now, as his expression turns serious as he looks back towards his house.

"I'll go tell my sister to get an extra map ready for Red in case he comes back; you check on Red's mom and see if she knows where Red is going or not." Blue tells Green with a more casual, but affirmative tone, as Green nods as she moves towards Red's house, all the while Blue heads into his house to talk with Daisy.

Green, meanwhile, walks up to the front door of Red's house, as Bulbasaur walks alongside her up to the garden of the household; the various flowers look like they're in serious need of attention. Weeds are growing everywhere in the garden around Red's house, and Bulbasaur looks over towards Green with concern. Speaking up in a semi-frog-like croak, Bulbasaur notices Green look down at it and look at the garden and yelp in surprise.

"Uh… Bulbs? Can you handle the garden while I check in with Red's mother, please?" Green asks Bulbasaur, as Green knocks on the door, as Bulbasaur looks back at the garden, before walking over towards the nearest patch of flowers, filled to the brim with weeds; weeds which Bulbasaur opens its surprisingly large mouth and begins munching on and uprooting from the ground.

Green finally hears someone, or, rather, something open the door to Red's house; the door slowly creeks open, as the door wasn't even fully shut let alone locked at all. Green walks inside as she looks around at the living room, as Green notices a relatively old fashioned television in the living room, and the aged form of a woman with brunette hair at a table with a low light, and a picture frame in front of her. Other than that, however, she was sitting all by herself in this house.

"Madam…?" Green quietly asks, as she can't help but notice Red's mother sitting in a rather quiet room like this; the picture frame becomes clear to her, though, in that it's a picture of Red's mother with an infantile Red in her arms, all wide eyed and adorable, and a much more cheerful woman that Red's mother used to be.

"All boys leave home someday, it's what they say on TV every day." The older woman speaks to herself, in a bit of a dry, monotone voice. Green moves to slowly approach the woman, speaking more louder and clearer this time.

"Madam?" Green asks; she honestly wish she knew the name of Red's mother, since that could possibly help right now. Regardless, the older woman still remains motionless, only to shift away from Green's direction as Green makes another attempt to approach.

Green gets the signal that she isn't welcome here through Red's mother moving away from her, and it becomes apparent with her repeating her sentence from before, that Green will more than likely need to hurry after Red.

* * *

"You do realize I would still give the map to Red even if you had told me otherwise, right?" Daisy says to Blue, as Blue grumbles a bit.

"What do you even see in him, anyways? Is this just to spite me for being so self-centered, according to you anyways?" Blue asks of Daisy, as Daisy chuckles.

"Honestly, I'm still having trouble believing that Green isn't the one who told you to tell me to get a map ready for Red. Isn't she supposed to be the one with the pants in the relationship?" Daisy asks, to which Blue averts his gaze as his face becomes all red.

"… She doesn't even wear actual pants whenever she dons that form hugging dress anyways…" Blue murmurs to himself, in hopes Daisy would just forget the topic of her own little crush on Red.

"Speaking of which… Has Red's mother been outside at all? Her garden looks rather poorly attended to. Like literally it's so overflowing with weeds that I half expected wild Pokémon to be hiding in there!" Daisy tells Blue, as Blue looks out the window real quick and doesn't seem to find anything wrong looking over towards the garden just outside of Red's house.

All he could see is a very, very plump and content Bulbasaur; calmly and lazily munching on a few smaller weeds that were left astray when they were uprooted with the others.

"… Doesn't look like a jungle anymore because of Green's Bulbasaur, if you ask me." Blue says to Daisy, as Daisy gives a quick look over to Red's garden in the window, as Green walks out of the house; moving to pick Bulbasaur up into her arms and walk off.

"Well you'd better hurry and go pick up Oak's Parcel for me at Viridian City while I burn you a copy of the Kanto Region's map. He's been waiting for it to be delivered, but the Poké Mart has sent out a deliveryman that nobody has been able to locate over the past few days it seems." Daisy says, as Blue sighs as he looks over towards Green heading for Route 1.

"I'll go pick it up, then."

* * *

Red is walking along Route 1; the tall grass is more plentiful around here, as he and Charmander are quick to notice. Red doesn't pay it too much mind, though, although that doesn't stop nature from giving him a sharp reminder of what lies in the tall grass.

A Pidgey, a small Pokémon akin to a bird, jumps out from the grass towards Red and Charmander; being so small, as well as having very small built wings, means that Pidgey is very poor at flying, so its agility will not be too noticeably agile.

At the same time, Charmander isn't going to have this easy; sure, a powerful attack with claws as sharp as metal will help, but it would have to get close to Pidgey to use it; Pidgey makes the first move of making an attempt to fly forward in a full body tackle; causing itself to crash into Charmander and knock them a few feet away from where Charmander was standing before.

Charmander grabs Pidgey by the head and grasps at it with its claws; moving to shove Pidgey in front of itself, before swiping away twice with horizontal slashes with its claws; the cuts didn't go very deep, at least not yet, but that didn't stop Pidgey from retaliating with a burst of dirt kicked from the ground with its small legs kicking and wings flapping.

The air becomes covered in layers of dust, dirt and sand, as Pidgey is nowhere to be seen in this; Charmander becomes eerily still; cocking its head to the sides in a sudden motion as if trying to hear for Pidgey's next move. Wing flapping can be heard heading in Charmander's direction, as Charmander's claws begin to glow a bright, steel gray as Charmander points itself in the direction of the sound and slashes at the air with claws formed of red and gray energy forming from its hands, in hopes of striking Pidgey from the front.

Only for Charmander to recoil from the pain when Pidgey instead crashes into it from the back; it had set up the area for Charmander to miss and be less accurate with its attacks, as Pidgey's tackle sends Charmander to the ground; covered head to toe in bruises as its being knocked aside. Charmander looks ready to give in, but the fierce, feral look in its eye gives Red all he needs to see in that Charmander has one more trick up its sleeve.

Charmander's tail begins to set itself ablaze; normally, that is already the case, but Charmander's tail began to intensify in its burn. Not only does the flame begin to burn to the point the flame grows in size, but the flame begins to intensify in temperature to where its color changes from red to blue, and then straight to a blazing white light that shines across the entire vicinity.

Pidgey is about to rush into Charmander a third time; its eyes were too keen for their own good, as it doesn't even notice the brighter light from the flame on Charmander's tail. Charmander, in response to Pidgey's approach, begins to whip its tail from side to side in a 360 degree spin, before launching itself into the air as the entire ground gains the outline of a star appears on the ground, as the outline focuses on an intense ray of light shining upon it from Charmander's tail.

"RAAAH!" Charmander lets out a tiny roar, as Charmander absorbs all of the flame from its tail into its body, before suddenly exhaling a powerful, white inferno of flames down upon Pidgey; the flame breaking apart and scattering into numerous, smaller flames as cinders of the larger flame, leaving impact craters in the ground upon burning up entirely.

Pidgey feels the intensity of the burn as the starlight ablaze fire burns off its own feathers, the flame dissipating as Pidgey emerges from it completely scorched and dazed from the attack. It tries to take a few steps towards only a mildly stunned Red, before falling to the ground, chin on the floor unconscious.

Red, grabbing a Premier Ball from his bag, brushing some dust off of its surface, before tapping the middle button of it onto Pidgey's roasted body causing the homing laser on the Poké Ball to let out a small, yet audible beep that doesn't immediately register Pidgey to try and catch.

[Poké Ball functions disrupted; target was-]

Red forces the manual override on the Premier Ball by opening it up on his own, and guiding the tracking laser from within the Poké Ball to manually lock on to Pidgey, and proceed to drag it into its core chamber a digitized red beam of energy, before Red manually closes the Premier Ball.

_One shake, two shakes, three shakes… *click*_

[Manual Override Commands Accepted; subject Pidgey is now caught.] The Premier Ball's monotone, pre-installed voice commands say in regards to Pidgey now officially being Red's. Charmander looks at Red, as Red looks down at Charmander and gives it a honey candy treat to reward it. Charmander quickly begins munching away, all the while Blue and Green can be heard catching up to Red.

"Red, what was that lightshow we saw coming from here?!" Green asks, as Blue looks rather stunned by what he had seen from a distance from Red's Charmander.

_((Do you think we should ask him about it?))_

' _No; let us proceed to Viridian City; we have to be certain instead of basing this off of a quick judgment.'_

Blue shakes off his thoughts as he focuses on what he can see right now, which is just Red, his Charmander, and Green fawning over said Charmander in a kneeling position. Blue looks at Red with suspicion.

"So why'd you head straight for Viridian without even stopping off at home first?" Blue asks Red, as Green gets up while holding Charmander in her arms and gives Red a bit of a scowl.

"Your mother is literally worried sick over you, and you didn't even say goodbye when leaving Palette-" Green begins to tell off Red, only for Red to simply take Charmander back with the Poké Ball he was caught in, as Red simply walks off back towards the north. Green audibly growls in disgust with what she's seeing right now, as she moves to grab Blue by the collar of his shirt as she glares at him with tears in her eyes.

"You will help me with dealing with Red, but we're not going to be doing it your way; we're going to be doing it my way; the peaceful way!" Green informs Blue, before setting him down on the ground as Blue looks at Green in shock, a blush present on his face as he nods, before moving to stand up and follow Green after Red.

"So why do you think Red is behaving this way? He's never acted this amoral before!" Blue asks, as Green shakes her head and shrugs.

"I don't even think he even realizes he's being this way; for all he knows, he's acting perfectly normal in his eyes! I mean have you even seen his father beforehand in the neighborhood?!" Green says, to which Blue visibly cringes a bit.

"Please, don't remind me of him. He gave me nightmares when I was just a baby…" Blue says, as Green thinks about that reminder of Blue's thoughts on Red's missing father.

"Do you think that's why Red's mother is acting so… disturbed?" Green asks, as Blue shrugs.

"Look, Green, you haven't met the guy like Red or I have; if anything Red's behavior seems to me like a bad omen is about to come to Palette Town, and Red is doing whatever he can to prepare for when the storm is to arrive." Blue says, as Red stops and looks back at them.

"So you two want in on the secret about to happen soon, don't you? I can't blame you; you're both reading me like a book in terms of figuring out what you're speculating is true." Red says, as he looks at a nearby sign post indicating Viridian City is just up a large hill directly ahead.

"So how do you expect us to do anything about it? We've only just gotten our Pokémon today! Most other trainers get them at least four years earlier than we did." Blue says to Red, as Green nods.

"He's got a point; besides, I'm honestly very concerned about what's going to happen, but most importantly, when is it going to happen?" Green asks, as Red looks back at her and Blue while closing his eyes; his faces relaxes as he lets out a sigh.

"Look; you two will need to focus on training your Pokémon all day to worry about what's going to happen tonight. If you want to get involved in this mess, than it's your own faults if you get hurt, because you two shouldn't have been involved in the first place, understood?" Red asks Blue and Green rather harshly, as the duo nod to Red.

"Look, Red, calm down and just try and explain from the beginning; what are we dealing with?" Green asks, as Blue shudders a bit.

"I really hope it isn't your dad…" Blue admits, as Red lets out a very low chuckle.

"Oh trust me; you'd rather it be my dad than who or what is going to appear tonight back home." Red begins to tell the two, as he stops himself, and looks around at the outskirts of Viridian City, to make sure nobody else is nearby, before he finally asks the big question.

"Have you two ever heard of a group called the 0Ω?"


	3. Chapter 2: Viridian City

' _Energy readings were off of the scale, a few moments ago.'_

_**((Can you trace them?))** _

A figure in a heavy, brown cloak observes over the grasslands of Route 1; witnessing the aftermath of Red's battle with a Pidgey; at first, nothing would be too out of the ordinary for such a sight, had it not been for this strange essence left behind in the wake of Charmander's powerful attack against Pidgey.

The figure, seemingly teleporting with each step it takes, walks over to the battlefield's remnants and notes the burnt, scorched area; a semi-dense, white dust fills the air, as the being inhales a breath to take in the dust and determine something.

' _Very faint; multi-color to the point of mere basal material, but indeed basal material for a powerful crystal nevertheless.'_  The figure determines from the scent and taste of the dust, as the figure moves to reveal its left hand; three digits alone are present on the hand, as a strange, blue and gold device is linked to the figure's wrist.

With a wave of its hand, the figure moves to collect the dust fragments into the device on its wrist; in an open hole on the device, a crystal of some sorts slowly begins to form, before ultimately shattering into dust again, as the figure heavily sighs.

' _Not enough material. Typical, for such an unevolved Pokémon to be able to generate; still, however, the fact a Pokémon can generate this basal material at all needs further investigation.'_  The figure ponders about Red's Charmander, before concentrating on its own surroundings at the moment and detecting movement.

' _Foolish, simply foolish; how does a human get lost so easily in a place like this? I expected better; I will be departing for now, mother; look to it that the two twins find their way to Pewter City by dawn.'_

_**((And what of the Charmander that this new trainer possesses; a Charmander does not so easily generate basal material for this kind of crystal, don't you think?))** _

' _I'll study him later; right now I do not wish to be spotted; farewell, mother.'_

In a snap of its fingers, the figure completely disappears from view as if it had never existed; a lone, straggling human wearing a uniform approaches the area, as they look around and see their surroundings, spotting the distinct sign just before a tall hill in the distance saying Viridian City is just up ahead.

"Ah; finally, I can report back to the Poké Mart after having been zoning out for days; still, I wonder, why did I get lost so easily, and for so long at that?"

* * *

Upon arriving in Viridian City, Red, Blue, and Green all stop just outside of a tall, red roofed building with incredibly clean, yet also incredibly strong and durable, Plexiglas windows and automated Plexiglas door. Sitting down on a bench, the three are quietly munching away at some rice balls; Red made little sound of any kind, taking fairly small bites. Blue ate his rice balls in a frantic hurry, whereas Green eats hers calmly but not at a slow pace like Red is doing. After finishing her current rice ball, Green speaks up first.

"So, it's nice that there's a sale on these at a small stand just in the park like this." Green says, trying to strike a conversation that doesn't quickly lead into awkwardness. Blue scarfs down another rice ball as he very hastily chews on it for a few moments before swallowing.

"Yeah, well I'm glad they definitely made them cheap enough to afford in a large bundle. My sister doesn't buy these for me often enough." Blue says, as Red sighs a bit as he finishes eating, though a few rice balls remain as Red quietly wraps them into a bag.

"Well at least they're better than day after day of ordering takeout." Red remarks, as Green sighs.

"You have a lot of issues, Red; we need to start working on them." Green says, as Blue nods.

"Yeah, we'll inevitably have to deal with your dad sooner or later, but honestly, if you want my honest opinion on going at him with just the most basic class Pokémon we'll be having within the next day, in addition to our starters, I'll say we're all f-"

"Blue!" Green turns to face him as she reprimands him for what he almost said.

"What?!" Blue says, holding up his hands in defense; "Not my fault the guy is a jerk!" Blue says, as Green sighs and rubs her temples a bit.

"You guys both are going to drive me nuts on our little journey, aren't you?" Green asks, as Red silently gazes her way.

"Highly possible." Red says, simply, as Green groans from the answer.

"I figured as much; at least I'm the presence of two guys I'd rather be hanging out with." Green says, as Blue chuckles lightly.

"So… Why'd you pause when asking us about this group called 'Zero Omega' anyways?" Blue asks Red, as Red raises an eye.

"That's… not even close to how it's actually pronounced…"

"That's what I know it's spelled with regardless, that, and it's far easier to say than whatever it is normally supposed to sound like." Blue tells Red, as Green looks over her shoulder to face Red.

"How do you manage to pronounce it correctly so well?" Green asks, as Red gives her a look from aside.

"I don't, actually; my dad never said it consistently due to how tired he becomes once he finally comes home from work every few days." Red says, as Green raises an eye.

"So if he comes home regularly, then why does your mom look like she's suffering from PTSD?" Green asks, as Red shrugs.

"She knew this day was inevitable no matter how hard she tried to delay it. I think it's for the best if I'm gone from the household for a while, even considering what would happen tonight." Red says, as Blue looks at Red with a rather wide eyed glare.

"Then why exactly did you bring up this Omega group in the first place?" Blue asks in a harsh tone, as Red closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath, and lets out a calm sigh.

"Green, is it? If you were a group of rogue Pokémon trainers that make even the likes of Team Rocket refuse to negotiate with your due to your lack of ethics; do you think they would honestly actually care about what happens in Palette Town at all?" Red asks Green, as Green looks at him with a serious gaze, before taking the moment to think.

Bulbasaur pops out of its Poké Ball beside her and looks around at the grassy area where the park bench is, as Blue decides to let Squirtle out of his Poké Ball as well, as Squirtle lets out a loud yawn before curling up into its shell and beginning to snooze. As Red lets out Charmander, Green regains her composure for the moment and thinks; Palette Town is an incredibly small town in the grand scheme of things, which is why she had never even seen this Team Rocket group ever go there.

Still, though, the thought of an organization which even Team Rocket refuses to want to negotiate with? The idea seems completely absurd; as she knew them, money is money for Team Rocket, no matter where it comes from. Then again, she has never personally met any of Team Rocket's goons at all, so she wouldn't really know what their motivation even is.

"It's a… troubling thought, but I do believe you've got a point; an organization of such caliber would leave Palette Town alone." Green says, as Red nods.

"So I suppose you're both ready to get to Route 2 after we stock up on supplies, correct?" Red asks, as Green nods, as Blue gives Red a glare.

"Oh I'm not going anywhere on Route 2 until I check out the Pokémon League to the west!" Blue says, as Blue gets up, picks up Squirtle, and moves to walk towards the western pathways of Viridian City.

"Hey! Call me if they reject you from entering, okay?" Green hollers to Blue, as Blue waves to her without turning around; his Pokégear in hand as he acknowledges her request. Green lets out an exhausted sigh, as she looks at Red, briefly looking him over, before grabbing him by his shirt collar.

"So then tell me; what do you actually want us to do instead of a wild Yungoos chase?!" Green asks, as Red blinks without showing much emotion.

"Don't you mean Golduck chase?" Red retorts, as Green growls before shaking Red back and forth.

"No! I mean Yungoos because Yungoos are near impossible to find in Kanto and- why am I even having to explain this to you?!" Green rants, before asking Red about the last bit; Red's eyes dull as he parts his lips to answer.

"Why do you care over what I decide to do with my life?"

Red asks, as the question causes Green to stop moving Red around and gently lay him against the bench, as Green looks down a bit to avert her gaze from his.

"I… No, it's nothing." Green lies, as Red raises an eye.

"You wouldn't be shaking me so violently without reason, Green; I know you too well."

"And you expect me to know a lot about you as well?!" Green snaps as she looks back up at Red, with tears forming in her eyes.

"I barely know who you even are, Red, at least who you're trying to be in the present, rather than the sweet little kid I met at a daycare so many years ago before I could even talk. You're different, not because you want to be, but it honestly feels like you're trying to hide something from Blue and I." Green says, as she tries her best to keep her composure strong.

"You know, I think we should just check out the Poké Mart so that we can change the subject for now, alright?" Red asks, as Green shoots him a glare.

"And why do you think I'll agree to that so-"

At that moment, an incredibly high pitch, sharp noise is heard throughout the area; sounding like it scrapes against a stainless steel wall with powerful claws, the numerous, differing sounds of an electronic beep being heard nearby, seemingly in some kind of rhythm of chaos.

Green's eyes widen as her iris' shrink, all the while Red moves to put his hand over Green's mouth to keep her quiet; the droning sounds continue, as what can be interpreted as a pulsation of some organic and technology nature can be heard; Red holds his breath, all the while he hears something, very, very quietly letting out a very low moan, bordering on coughing and wheezing in pain.

' _What are those sounds coming from?'_  Green thinks to herself, due to Red covering her mouth to make sure she stays quiet; whatever it is, however, and due to Red's actions, appeared to be very, very nearby somewhere.

Over towards where Blue currently is with Squirtle, Squirtle can hear something off moving in the area; Blue moves to open his Pokégear up to try and call Green as to ask what that strange noise is, only to be greeted with static.

"Great, just what I need with all of this unnerving sound going on." Blue says, as he stops cold in his tracks when he hears something letting out a very low, human-like moan of sorts, alongside some kind of rumbling clicking to accompany it. Blue looks around in the nearby area, wondering what kind of creature was moving on through. Quietly he looks around, slowly, to determine what is moving nearby.

At the sound of a large amount of rustling in the nearby grass, Blue moves to instinctively grab a Poké Ball on his belt, only to not realize for a moment that he does not yet possess any spare Poké Balls just yet. Realizing this, and hearing the beginning of a loud, yet low in pitch, droning sound, Blue returns Squirtle to her Poké Ball and frantically heads back to Viridian City so he can head straight for the Poké Mart.

* * *

"Hey! Do you come from Palette Town?"

After a few minutes of waiting out the foreboding noise, Red and Green headed to the Poké Mart as their next destination, as they manage to beat Blue there, but at the same time, haven't gotten a word back from him. Red and Green, regardless, are surprised to see someone asking for the two of them so quickly upon entering the blue roofed building.

"Yes, we come from Palette Town." Green answers the guy at the counter of the small shop, as she and Red walk up to the counter to check as to why they were called over.

"Alright, good to hear; you see, a delivery man had gotten lost on Route 1 for a few days now, and I'm wondering if by any chance you can manage to find him. If by any chance he returns before you get back, there's no need to worry; we've got a backup of a package that needs to go to Professor Oak on hand, since we knew strange activity was happening in the area so we planned in advance for it." The clerk at the counter tells Red and Green, as Green blinks.

"Strange activity, as in, possibly hearing strange sounds outside nearby the city?" Green asks, as the clerk nods.

"That is the least of your worries, check the telly over there, and learn a bit more." The clerk says, as Red and Green both look over towards a large, albeit very outdated, television set behind a glass protector showing two reporters on screen in the middle of a conversation.

"So in other news, paranormal activity has so far been observed in Cerulean City, Pewter City, Viridian City, and now people are coming in with reports that the rural Palette Town is seeing witnesses of these strange activities. Be it unusual noises, disappearances, or strange people wearing white and purple bodysuits being detected in the area, viewers are to be advised to be careful when treading the routes in-between these locations."

"Correct; always travel in groups, always check in and sleep at night, preferably a Pokémon Center or local inn, but if absolutely necessary pack camping supplies for any trainers out there looking to travel the region. Keep valuables well protected at all times, and make sure your Pokémon are in good condition to ensure personal protection in case any of these mystery men prove to be hostile."

"Especially since Team Rocket is also roaming around; Team Rocket are opportunistic at most, but the recent reports of these white and purple clad people have been causing Team Rocket to frantically head to the nearest sighting of them in search of leftovers of whatever the former group are looking for."

"Right then, with that out of the way, we're looking into possibly establishing contact with this group to determine their intentions. Until then, it is advised everyone steer clear of them whenever spotted."

As Red and Green watch the television report go on, neither of the two had noticed that Blue had long since entered the building, panting heavily behind the two.

"Poké Balls! I need Poké Balls! How many do you have on sale?" Blue hurriedly asks of the clerk after slamming his hands on the counter to catch his attention; Red and Green snapping back to look at the semi-panicked Blue the whole while.

"S-Sure, we have 10 on sale with a Premier Ball bonus attached to it."

"I'll take it!" Blue says as he grabs his wallet and slams the small amount of bills and coins onto the counter, meanwhile the clerk is shocked as he moves to grab a bag of Poké Balls from the back of the counter, with the Premier Ball grouped with them as Blue quickly grabs his purchases and heads out the door, only to bump into a man walking in exhausted as Blue screams bloody mary over bumping into who only turned out to be another clerk.

"E-Excuse me, Blue Oak?! Perhaps you can be of service to me and deliver a package for me!" The arriving clerk asks of the scared half to death Blue, as Blue slowly blinks, eyes wide and shrunken irises and all, as Blue looks over at Red and Green just staring at him in confusion.

"S-Sure… Just… everyone stop looking at me like that, seriously…" Blue slowly says, as he looks over at Red and Green; he doesn't bother giving either of them a glare at all, as he walks out of the Poké Mart with Red and Green slowly following behind.

"Just be sure to not tell my grandpa about everything you just saw in there; nothing has been going right the moment I had stepped foot onto Route 1 with you guys." Blue brings up, as he stops in his tracks as he sees some people up ahead in front of him, as Red and Green stop as well to observe two strange people before them.

People in white and purple suits.


	4. Chapter 3: Fighting Fire with Fire

{You three} The shorter, seemingly pudgier of the two dressed in white and purple "speaks"; their voice is very muffled by their own uniform, with only the glowing, magenta eye visible through their visor making it clear this is a woman speaking. Red, Blue, and Green flinch a bit when the other person beside her shifts in place to slouch in his stance a little; even with said slouch, the man beside her looked incredibly tall.

"Yes?" Blue asks, doing the best to hide his intimidated feeling on the back of his mind; the man before them next to the girl turns around in place, before walking back quite a distance; due to his height, only a few small steps are needed to walk several feet away from Red, Blue, and Green.

{Not you,} The small, pudgy woman in armor speaks, before moving to point her left hand towards Red, {him} the woman addresses Red, as Red looks over towards the tall, slouching man now several feet away.

{We'd like to borrow your companion's talents in a demonstration for our research} The woman explains, as Blue and Green look bemused as to how Red is getting a lot of attention today.

' _Since when did the universe suddenly decide to make Red the most important thing about today?'_  Blue thinks to himself, as the woman patiently waits for Red's answer, as the tall man stands in place; tapping his left foot against the ground, he seems to be eager to want to battle Red. Red doesn't take too long to determine the man's intentions, as he draws his Poké Ball and calls upon Charmander first.

Waving both of his hands forward in a slow gesture, only one finger on each hand is raised as the other are curled together; Red gets the implication of the man choosing the rules one on one, meaning Pidgey would take a sideline to this fight; not that Pidgey could currently fight in its condition anyways, considering the immense power of Charmander's attack that scored the catch.

Drawing a Poké Ball from the back behind his rear, it appears to be a Premier Ball in type as he lazily throws it forward, and out comes a tall, semi-bipedal Pokémon from which Red's eyes widen as Blue and Green gain a look of both surprise and confusion on their face.

The Pokémon in question resembles some kind of tailless, blue and yellow badger of sorts, with a vicious expression on its face, and fiery red spots on the back of its neck, as well as rather small limbs that indicate this Pokémon moves better on all fours than it does on two legs.

"What kind of weird Pokémon is that?" Blue asks to Green, quietly, as Red's Charmander looks unnerved by the ferocious Pokémon standing before it.

"I don't know, but Charmander doesn't look willing to fight against it…" Green says, as she looks at worry towards Charmander and notices its expression dampening the more it has to look at the probably fully evolved Pokémon before it.

"Charmander."

Red's voice is subdued, but sharp in addressing his Pokémon; Charmander looks at Red and notices Red looking down at Charmander with a serious gaze; Charmander looks back over towards the large, blue and yellow Pokémon with an intensified gaze.

Charmander huffs and gives a call towards the larger, mammalian Pokémon, but it is only greeted back by a savage roar from the opponent as behind its neck manifests a mane of flames. Blue is confused as to why the unidentified Pokémon isn't attacking yet, but then notices something; the intimidating, tall trainer it has hasn't budged in a few minutes now, so the Pokémon has no command to even execute at all.

"Red! Quit stalling! Order Charmander to attack!" Green yells to Red, as Red gestures his arm forward to point at the Pokémon opposing Charmander, as Charmander's tail begins to burn with a bright intensity. The mammalian Pokémon is about to attack, but the sudden hand gesture of its mysterious trainer wagging its finger "no" to it tells it to remain idle.

Charmander's tail intensifies in brightness, beginning to appear a bright blue in terms of coloration as the size of the flame increases. Charmander glares its eyes, glowing a fiery blue, towards the opponent, before exhaling a massive stream of blue flames towards the opponent as the Pokémon takes the hit without even moving at all; not even to block it, instead taking the attack directly.

"The heck? Can't even order your Pokémon to dodge?" Blue asks, as the tall man wags his finger to Blue in a motion that makes Blue look fuming in anger, as the tall man points to very, very faint fragments of powder on the ground from where Charmander's flame breath had touched the ground with.

{My apologies for Iaze's malfunction; he's incredibly dull minded at times; often childish at that} The mysterious woman says, as she gestures with both of her hands a cutting motion in a cross direction to the man, apparently named Iaze; he responds by snapping his fingers at his Pokémon to finally move, as the unidentified fire Pokémon's eyes suddenly go wide with feral slits for irises, as it lunges forward and grabs Charmander by the neck in its jaws.

With a strong enough of a bite to visibly draw blood.

Blue and Green's eyes suddenly go wide as to what they witness; Red's gaze remains relatively stoic, but at the same time, no less freaked out than Blue and Green in terms of visible expression.

"Charmander!" Red blurts out, as the larger mammalian Pokémon violently shakes Charmander around in its jaws like a ragdoll, before a snap of Iaze's fingers have the Pokémon drop Charmander into the ground by tossing it in a spike fashion to send Charmander plummeting into the solid ground and dirt, leaving a noticeable impact trail as a result.

{Strange; the specimen does not appear to exhibit its unusual quirks even at a time like this} Mupo speaks in a confused, but concerned tone towards Charmander's state in the battle, as Blue looks over at her and glares.

"Well excuse you, madam, but I think your pal over there is flat out trying to kill Red's Charmander!" Blue shouts angrily at Mupo, as Green nods as she equally glares at Mupo, then towards Iaze.

"I'm not having any of this! Bulbasaur, let's go!" Green calls as she tosses Bulbasaur's Poké Ball out into the field, as Bulbasaur emerges from within it. Bulbasaur lets out a low, rumbling sound, only to loudly let out a sharp, deep pitched call as it moves back a few steps in terror as it watches Charmander get thrashed by a much larger Fire Type Pokémon that it had no idea what it even is.

{Iaze, what's taking so long?! Turn up the heat!} Mupo criticizes her friend as the large blue and yellow Pokémon continues with thrashing about Charmander, with its sharp fangs and front claws; leaving bleeding scratches and puncture wounds all across Charmander's body, as Charmander is again tossed to the ground as Charmander trembles as he tries to stay standing.

Then Charmander had enough; Charmander's tail flame begins to burn with a larger flame, this time appearing blue in intensity, before quickly turning white. Blue and Green are shocked as the flames begin to coat Charmander and begin to partially heal the more grievous wounds just enough to keep them from being fatal, as Charmander looks upon the larger Pokémon with pupils turning into slits.

{Iaze! Burn Up!} Mupo commands her friend, as Iaze nods and snaps his fingers towards his Pokémon, as the Fire Type Pokémon engulfs itself in a massive flare of flames across its entire body, before pouring all of the fire into its open jaws and unleashing it in a giant, fiery sphere of energy. Charmander, whipping his tail outward to face the incoming flame, ends up absorbing the flame into its tail as now its tail flame glows violet in heat as Red, Blue and Green all begin sweating immensely as Green hastily calls back Bulbasaur to avoid it getting hurt.

"Blue! Call out Squirtle!" Green calls over the sounds of the searing hot flames crackling beside Red's Charmander, as Blue shakes his head.

"That won't work! Even if Squirtle is sent out, the air is becoming dehydrated from Charmander's flame! A Water Type Pokémon can't use Water Moves in a state like this!" Blue yells, as Green gasps.

"What do you mean?! Can't she use the water from the air?!"

"There is no water in the air! As I said, the place is dehydrated from Charmander and if this ke-" Blue notes, before noticing a motorcycle coming into view as a woman dressed in a police uniform of mostly dark blue and having turquoise hair tied up in a pigtail behind her head, and having maroon eyes shining at the sight of Charmander's flame as she gasps.

"Hey! If you guys aren't careful, you're going to ignite the plants in the area just with that flame being there!" The police woman yells harshly, as Mupo and Iaze quickly notice the woman and glance at each other. Iaze quickly calls back his Pokémon, as he and Mupo press a hidden button on the front of their suits, causing them both to vanish into thin air and leave the area. Blue and Green look at each other in confusion as to why Iaze and Mupo decided to ditch the scene so quickly, as they both look at Red in shock, as Red whistles for Charmander to cease with its charging flame.

Charmander does as it can barely hear from Red, but in doing so, the giant flame collapses into smaller, different flames that touch the ground; rather than burning the grass on impact, though, they instead harden into physical forms in the appearance of crystalline fragments of some kind, as Charmander rushes back over to Red and begins hissing a bit in an attempt to apologize, but Red simply returns him to his Poké Ball for the time being, as the police woman moves to sternly address Red, Blue, and Green.

"Now, I don't know what you three were doing, be it battling or trying to compare each other's Fire Types with each other, but this has to stop. I'm letting you three off with a warning, but with that said my sisters will be keeping an eye out for you elsewhere in Kanto if you so much as cause trouble again!" The police woman yells at the three teens, as Red moves forward first.

"With all due respect, ma'am, I think you missed two trainers whom we were battling a moment ago and-"

"Two trainers, huh? As in your two friends?" She inquires, as Blue and Green shake their heads in response, as Red clears his throat.

"Don't you have reports of people in purple and white uniforms to investigate? Those were the two people we had encountered here before you show up." Red tells her, as the police woman's scowl still holds up.

"Are you trying to excuse your actions earlier, mister?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then do us all a favor, clean up this mess and get back to behaving like normal trainers, or I'm going to revoke your trainer cards for a week if you keep trying to stall my time here!" The woman scolds Red, as she gets back onto her motorcycle and drives off in a heated fit. Blue looks at Red with a bit of an angry glare.

"Well she's in a snippy mood, she didn't even realize Green and I were spectators in your little spat with the big guy." Blue tells Red, before getting a glare from Green which leads him to adding in, "Well, er, at least Jenny could've been willing to listen to all three of us as to what had happened…" Blue says, as Green sighs, as she notices a sparkling in the grass burned up by Iaze's Pokémon and Red's Charmander, as she walks over to the burnt patches of grass and moves to pick up a very, very small crystal of some kind glowing in an intense, red colored energy from within.

"Guys… You might want to come over here and check this out…" Green tells Red and Blue, as the two boys walk over to Green and have a look at the crystal that Green has in her hands. Red's eyes briefly widen as he gazes upon it, as Blue's eyes narrow a bit.

"So this must've been what those two weirdos were after… I think?" Blue ponders about the crystal in Green's hand, as he looks over at Red who gives a quiet nod in agreement. Green looks at the crystal and moves to place it in her bag for now, as she looks towards the horizon towards the north, as well as glancing to the west as the sun is positioned towards just above the edge of the late noon.

"We don't have much daylight left, so let's get to training our Pokémon for future encounters with those two weirdos, alright?" Green tells the two boys beside her, as Blue nods; neither of the two are fast enough to hear the sound of a Poké Ball opening near Red.

"Alright, I can certainly try and train my Squirtle in the Pokémon League." Blue tells Green, only briefly noticing the sound of wing flapping, starting off strong, before becoming quieter not too long after.

"Yeah, Bulbasaur could also use some training as well; it's a tame Pokémon no matter how you raise it, but not many trainers are a fan of Bulbasaur as much as Squirtle or Char-"

Green shuts herself up as she notices Red is nowhere next to herself or Blue anymore, and looks around frantically to find where the boy must've ran off to, before looking into the air and seeing a very distinct 15 year old dressed in red.

Being held up in the air with Pidgey's talons and flying all the way north towards the next city. Blue simply stares as his eye twitches a little, all the while Green's expression at the moment could not be put into words no matter how hard one tried to.

"... How does that even work?" Green asks in complete bemusement as to how Red's Pidgey, which is just as small as Red's Charmander, is carrying Red all the way north into the distance without breaking a sweat.

"How much do you want to bet he's going to fall doing that?" Blue asks, as Green gives him a glare.

"Don't jinx it! Think of how hurt Red could get if Pidgey-" Green can't even finish her sentence, as she's gestured to look up into the sky by Blue; approximately where Red was in the sky, nothing can be seen there anymore, meaning either Red cleared the horizon altogether, or judging by the massive forest up ahead to the north, he could've dropped in altitude and entered the forest instead.

"We need to go check on him to make sure he's alright…" Green says, as she moves to run forward before being grabbed by the arm from Blue.

"Patience, Green! We don't have any kind of camping supplies and by the time we so much as reach Viridian Forest, night is going to fall and we'll be without any kind of shelter once we're in there looking for Red!" Blue warns Green, as Green looks at Blue and nods, before glancing over towards the Poké Mart up ahead towards the northeast.

Blue's expression dampens the moment the site of the Poké Mart reminds him of something.

"Greeeat… I still need to deliver that package to gramps." Blue tells Green, as Green looks at him with a nod.

"Then go deliver it; I'll go pick up camping supplies at the Poké Mart and I'll head into Viridian Forest to search for Red first." Green says to Blue, as Blue nods, as Blue moves to sprint towards the south back towards Palette Town, as Green moves to head into the Poké Mart to shop for camping supplies and food that they'll need for traveling all across Kanto.

Once Green is inside, and Blue is too far away to notice, Iaze and Mupo reappear from being hidden to have a glance towards the direction Red went off towards with his Pidgey.

{Quite a curious specimen, if I do say so myself} Mupo says to Iaze, as Iaze moves back towards the grass from which Green found the strange crystal, as Iaze moves to search the grass and finds a few crystalline shards in a rainbow color. Iaze examines the shards to see if they're worth his interest, as Mupo looks towards Iaze as she points towards the various crystalline powder littering some of the grass.

{Collect the residue from the fight proper; we have no use for an Awakening Emera in such a broken state} Mupo points out to Iaze, as Iaze moves to crush the crystals in his hand into additional powder, as he moves to collect the remaining powder in the area from the aftermath of his and Red's battle. Mupo, as she looks back towards the horizon up north, couldn't help but let out a high pitched chuckle at what she could determine Red, Blue, and Green were doing once they had "vanished".

{Still though, Iaze, do you think we might have some trouble with these two? Our grandmother would not exactly be thrilled to know we've allowed ourselves to have witnesses, let alone the fact we let them live to tell about it} Mupo begins to tell Iaze her thoughts on the situation, as Iaze continues collecting powder from the ground as much as he can see and grab, all the while Mupo gazes back on him.

{Iaze are you even listening to me at this moment in time? Or perhaps, maybe, your little fight with the boy struck a bit of a nerve}

The sound of Iaze's rustling in the grass for more powder ceases, as Iaze, very, very slowly, moves to stand and look Mupo in the eye, having to slouch a lot just to look her straight in the eye.

{Count on it}


	5. Chapter 4: Abyss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In memoriam, John W. Williams, Jr., 1940-2018. May you rest in peace, my loving grandfather.

Blue's trip to Palette Town should've been simpler than he had realized it would be. What with the ominous noises of some kind of who knows what kind of entity causing it. Even he admits, mentally that is, that this is very much 90% possibly the Mythical Dragons of Sinnoh clashing in a parallel world with their aftershocks being felt in nearby dimensions.

Oh how he hoped that's all it was and literally nothing else out of the ordinary, as could honestly do without having to see Red's father back in Palette Town by the time he arrives with the parcel for his grandfather.

Unfortunately, as he rambles in his mind about the weird things going on, he doesn't seem to pay attention to who or what is in front of him, and ends up crashing head first into another person on Route 1.

"Ack! S-Sorry about that, I'm kind of-" Blue tries to hastily apologize, as he grabs the parcel to make sure it isn't damaged, but once he catches sight of the person he crashed into, he can't take his eyes away from the trainer before him.

Having dark skin, and violet hair, two traits of which are uncommon in Kanto, Blue muses to himself that he must've bumped into a trainer from a completely different region; no natives to the landmass of Kanto and Johto are noted for having such a dark skin tone as this girl before him, and very few immigrants from other regions exist to the point it's practically a 1 out of 8192 chance of encountering someone from such a region here in Kanto.

"Um… Hello? Are you dead to reality, or…?" The girl speaks to Blue, as Blue snaps out of his rambling thoughts to focus his attention on the girl; her striking crystal blue eyes piercing Blue's own eyes with curiosity and intrigue; Blue smirks mentally, since he sees an opportunity now that Red and Green are nowhere to bother him with it.

"Why hello, madam. Any reason a beauty like you passes through on Route 1?" Blue asks, all smug about his confidence in flirting with this dark skinned girl. The girl, whom Blue didn't even ask for her name yet, simply smiles a bit as she gazes at Blue.

"I'm researching Pokémon native to Kanto on my mother's behalf; she and my brother Dexio have recently moved with me to Kanto from Kalos to continue our studies abroad." The girl responds to Blue, as Blue maintains his expression with thinning confidence, since he realizes the girl didn't even so much as react to his obvious attempt to flirt.

"What is your name if I may ask?" She asks, as Blue smirks a bit.

"I was about to ask you the same question, madam." Blue states, as now he suddenly gets a bit of a glare from the girl.

"It's rude to ask for a girl's name before giving your own first, dick." The girl says with the upmost honesty and sincerity, her calm demeanor not budging an inch despite how hostile her choice of wording became so quickly.

"Um… er… How about I rephrase that; my name is Blue, what's yours?" Blue asks, his confidence in ruins as the smug smirk on his face had effectively been blast completely off, all the while the girl slyly giggles a bit.

"Call me Sina; as I've mentioned I'm a transfer student from Kalos, coming to study here in Kanto for the time being. Tell me, are you familiar with Mega Evolution?" Sina introduces herself, then asks a question of Blue right away; Blue raises an eye as to what exactly she just asked him.

' _What the heck is Mega Evolution? Gramps never told me about anything like that before… did he?'_  Blue thought, as he looks at Sina clear in the eyes and nods.

"Yes, I am aware of what Mega Evolution is!" Blue lies, to attempt to boast to impress Sina in an attempt to flirt yet again. "Mega Evolution, ah, yes, I recall when my Squirtle would immediately evolve into Blastoise so suddenly that it could only maintain the form briefly and-"

"Oh you little prick~, that's not how Mega Evolution works! No Pokémon that has further natural evolutions can achieve what I'm referring to." Sina boasts to Blue while bowing a bit in her posture with her hands behind her back, tucked behind her waist; Blue blushes as he immediately catches Sina's own attempt to flirt with him.

"I'm 16 by the way, I take it you're the same?" Sina asks of Blue, as Blue nods; grabbing his Trainer Card and holding it out to here, he shows her his verified age of 16 years, as Sina brings out her Trainer Card and shows her own verified age of 16 years.

"Sorry about that, Blue; I wasn't sure if you were my own age or not; you honestly look a tad older than you are, and I find that kind of appealing~!" Sina reassures Blue, all the while Blue's face turns red at the remark.

' _Clearly this girl lacks in subtlety… then again, who am I to really judge?'_  Blue mentally notes, as he realizes something; that gigantic rodent of a Fire Type that Iaze used against Red, maybe Sina knows what it is?

"Say, Sina, I have to ask, you wouldn't happen to know about a Pokémon with a yellow and dark blue coloration, walks on either its hind legs or all fours, and has spots around the back of its neck that can spout fire in an enraged mood, yes?" Blue asks Sina, as Sina's taken aback by how innocent of a question Blue decides to ask her, as she pulls out her own Pokédex to check for herself on such a Pokémon that matches Blue's description.

' _Her Pokédex model seems different from the one gramps uses it, not that I'm surprised.'_  Blue remarks to himself in his head, lying about not being surprised since he's about as naïve to know what kind of Pokémon exist outside of Kanto, much like how his grandpa is.

"Typhlosion, the Pokémon you described is Typhlosion. Pure Fire Type, a hair trigger temper like nobody could believe, and honestly makes Charizard look tame in terms of violent behavior, at least, that is, so long as you're not using Mega Charizard to compare it to that is." Sina explains, as Blue gives Sina a weird look, all the while Sina sighs a bit.

"… You  _really_  don't know what Mega Evolution is, don't you?" Sina asks Blue, giving him a partial glare to try and force him to be honest; Blue shakes his head no, as Sina's expression lightens up and her lips form a very soft smile.

"Tell you what Casanova; I'll give you a little gift for our first meeting to see how you make the best of it, and within a week's time, if you can meet me at Celadon City and beat me in a Pokémon battle using these items…" Sina details to Blue about her little plan, as Blue listens carefully as Sina walks closer to him and hands him two circular stones; one smaller one which has a rainbow colored DNA helix in the center, and one that's predominantly blue and has a near identical DNA helix inside of it.

"And what happens if I win? Will you go on a date with me?" Blue asks; he should've slapped himself for having the audacity to ask something with such a sarcastic tone, immaturity and-

"Why, yes, actually~… hehe…" Sina tells Blue, as Blue's eyes widen in shock, "And if I win, you'll take me on a date and pay for the meal instead. Sound fair?"

Blue's too busy trying to process this information in his head that he only just now realizes he still has the parcel to deliver to Oak, but considering what he's being challenged to right now, he figures the parcel can wait as long as it needs until the conversation is over.

"Sure; I'll see you within a week at Celadon, cutie~!" Blue tells her, as Sina giggles a bit, as Sina moves in unusually close to Blue to whisper something in his ear, her hand vaguely moving around to Blue's side.

"I'll be sure to smell you later then, Blue; don't leave a girl like me waiting for her date when the time arrives~." Sina tells him, as Sina moves to walk off while humming a blissful tune of sorts, as Blue just looks back towards her and gawks at her in shock; she's a girl of many surprises, as far as he can tell, and quite a beautiful one at that.

' _Oh yeah, Blue 1, Red 0. Heh, can't wait til he and Green hear how my luck has changed thus far.'_

* * *

Upon arriving at his grandfather's laboratory, Blue takes the time to recompose himself after what he experienced back at Route 1 with Sina; admittedly, she's a weird one since she's asking to date Blue so quickly, but considering how Blue himself started the whole ordeal by flirting with her first, was she just toying with his mind? Or was she being sincere and honest to him about their potential date at Celadon?

Either way, Blue takes out the odd gemstones from his pocket, as his eyes slightly widen upon feeling something else in his pocket. Pulling the item out, and Blue sees he has a voucher for a shop of sorts; the label showcases a dark blue color to it, and the ocean waves and clear sky is visible on the card; it kind of resembles a postcard to anyone not keen enough to notice the label saying "Cerulean City Bike Shop" on it.

Blue simply tucks the voucher back into his pocket for now; right now he has to deal with giving his grandpa a parcel from the Poké Mart before he realizes it's late by now.

Opening the door to the laboratory, Blue walks inside and finds all of the lights shut off, and he looks around with a keen eye towards every possible spot he can see within the laboratory.

Not a soul in sight for the entire laboratory; only a single computer is turned on in an otherwise powered down laboratory, and it has a sticky note on it meant to get Blue's attention due to how it sticks out compared to the dark room and lit up, singular monitor screen.

Blue, walking over to the computer, checks the sticky note and sees what exactly it reads:

" _Attending funeral at Fuchsia City, place any deliveries on the counter next to this PC. –Professor Samuel Oak."_

"… Nice of him to leave a note…" Blue states to himself aloud; sounding somewhat distraught as he says that, but quickly moved to have his left arm dry off his face from slowly forming tears, which ceased upon Blue attempting to recompose his state of mind.

As he looks around in the laboratory, he takes notice of some of the machinery towards the left side view from where he was facing the monitor of the computer, as he moves to walk over towards them and check one of the devices out. A large machine containing six, empty Poké Ball containers is seen, as Blue identifies it in his mind as, possibly, being a rundown Pokémon Center healing machine.

Blue recalls some memories of Oak and himself when he was younger; he recalls the day that he first seen his grandfather acquire this machine, from a rather elderly woman near equal to Oak in age; at least, in terms of Oak's age in the present day. Back then, Blue himself was only 6 years old, and while many things from 10 years ago stayed unchanged to this day, he recalls how several things were different.

Green did not live in Palette Town originally like how Blue and Red both did, and Blue and Red have always been somewhat close as friends despite Blue's increasingly bitter nature developing as he grew older and developed an insufferable ego; a fact that Blue himself would never admit, and mentally he refuses to refer to it as such, instead recalling it as "becoming closer to a teen".

Mentally, when it came to being confronted by Red or any other "lower class" kid growing up, Blue would always change the answer, but if confronted by Oak himself, he would always be a lot more honest and actually tell him the real answer.

"I'm just tired of living in your shadow so much." Blue speaks to himself, very quietly, as he can't really seem to grasp how harsh of a response to Oak that always had been, as Blue's senses snap back to reality when he hears a rush of wind graze the back of his neck as Blue's eyes widen and he turns 180 degrees to look around behind himself.

Nothing shows itself, and Blue can practically taste the emptiness of the laboratory every time he takes a breath, and it's slowly becoming more and more unwelcoming of a presence as Blue doesn't even realize he's slowly going from just a delivery boy for his grandfather, to suddenly trespassing by overstaying his welcome in an empty laboratory with very expensive items and machinery in it, as if any moment something would click in his head and yell at him to take something.

Blue could feel his hair shivering with a tingling sensation; something is here in the lab with him, watching his every move possible; Blue only realizes after having zoned out for so long that he still has the box with the parcel inside to deliver and leave here. As Blue snaps back to reality, he moves to place the box on the counter next to the PC, as Blue slowly begins to have his sweating hands finally let go of the box, his fingers slowly releasing themselves from holding it and-

"Well? Aren't you curious as to what's inside?"

Blue nearly jumps as he could practically hear someone whisper that in his ear at a dangerous invasion of his personal space; he looks around, seeing nobody, as he could've sworn he had felt someone grasping him from behind and saying something to him quietly.

"Who's there?! Show yourself before I'm forced to kick you out!" Blue yells into the emptiness of the laboratory; his voice echoes across the expanse of the interior of the lab, which only further unnerves Blue, even more so when nobody responds to his question.

Only the emptiness of the lab and he himself were in any presence of each other; Squirtle still rests inside of Blue's Poké Ball containing her, and there are no Poké Balls left behind in Oak's laboratory containing any Pokémon within them; at least, that's what Blue thought anyways.

Upon clearing his thoughts, Blue notices that there are no lights shining into the building; a loud crackle of thunder brightens the dark room; Blue, directly in front of himself, could briefly see a blank figure with a Cheshire grin of sorts all across its face and no other features present, and the sight of piercing, reptilian eyes are ingrained into Blue's mind, as Blue struggles and lets out a few gasps of shock as he looks around, and can't stop seeing piercing eyes akin to what Iaze and Mupo had shown for themselves, as the room is once again dark after the call of thunder ceased.

Rain soon begins to downpour outside of the laboratory, as Blue realizes he needs to get going and meet Green back in Palette Town, but right now, he can't help but sit down, and have his hands grasp his head to try and get himself to calm down; the emptiness of the lab is only making things worse, and Blue had never been left alone like this before to such a degree and-

'Actually, now that I think of it; alone in gramps' lab, with none of the staff present, and I myself being the sole person here… it all seems vaguely familiar… As if this has happened before, but I cannot recall why?'

Blue's thoughts could only wish he knew the answer to that; Blue moves to finally stand, taking deep breaths as he does so, and moves to walk towards the door in the laboratory from which he could see in range.

Blue wakes up to reality to find its storming outside of the laboratory and all across this portion of Kanto, as he sticks close to the laboratory building and keeps himself out from the rain so he can grab his Pokégear and try and call either Red or Green; thinking Red is not going to answer, Blue dials Green to hope she'll answer.

"Hello? Blue? Where have you been for the past two hours?" Green's worried voice graces Blue's hearing as he answers her.

"I got sidetracked at gramps' lab, I just got done delivering the parcel," he lies about how smooth things went when in reality it was anything but, "I should be able to get back to Viridian City all on my own and-"

"Blue,  _ **DON'T!**_  It's not safe; take shelter in whichever building you're closest to and  _stay there_ , I repeat,  _ **stay there**_  and do  _ **not**_  go anywhere else until  _this weather clears!_  Do you understand me? This is  _ **a life or death**_  situation and I don't want you to risk losing your life over what's happening in the bay to the east!" Green yells over the Pokégear, as the call's connection is quickly being reduced to static, as Blue horrifyingly gazes at the skyline to see powerful bolts of thunder strike the ocean towards the south, as something glowing an immense, yellow spark of light could be seen floating in the air, directly in Blue's view of the horizon.

Blue rushes inside and shuts and locks the door to the lab, knowing anybody who would need to get in would already have the key or would be already safe from the storm; Blue heads towards the computer, knowing that it's still on, and goes to quickly try and search up what exactly is appearing which is causing this severe storm.

As Blue moved to try and sit down in front of the computer, he couldn't even see when something knocked the chair out from under him, and something blunt and powerful struck his head, as his body hits the floor and the feeling of immense shaking and trembling forces stirring, the sound of glass shattering, books falling across the laboratory interior, and machines rapidly powering on and off before power ceased altogether, all the while the computer Blue was attempting to get an answer from responds just as the blunt trauma to his head takes hold and knocks him unconscious.

_**"͉̥̪̞͚͢͜Z̶̩͖̟̼͡͡a̯̕͠͠p̸̻̲̱̥̱̼̱͘d͇̀͢ͅo̡̫̟̖s͏͖̺̖̺ ͈͚͞a̛̼̮͙p̲͈̬̯͜p̢̪͉̺̤̘̜̗̲̟͠e̛̠͇̩͢a̡͕͎̙̰͔͙͟r̶̰͎̹̞͚̲̫e̵̝͖̱̲̹͍̪d̞̜̳̜̦̳̳͡ͅ.͏͙"̠̟͕͘͢** _


End file.
